WACX (channel 55), branded SuperChannel Orlando, is a religious independent television station licensed to Leesburg, Florida, United States, serving the Orlando area. Locally owned by SuperChannel Worship Ministries, Inc., the station maintains studios on W. Central Parkway in Altamonte Springs, and its transmitter is located near Bithlo, Florida.
 | |
| |
|---|---|
| City | Leesburg, Florida |
| Channels | |
| Branding | SuperChannel Orlando |
| Programming | |
| Affiliations |
|
| Ownership | |
| Owner | SuperChannel Worship Ministries, Inc. |
| History | |
| Founded | October 28, 1977 |
First air date | January 23, 1978 |
Former call signs | WIYE (1982–1988) |
Former channel number(s) |
|
| TBN (1990s–2006) | |
| Technical information[1] | |
Licensing authority | FCC |
| Facility ID | 60018 |
| ERP | 49.2 kW |
| HAAT | 510.5 m (1,675 ft) |
| Transmitter coordinates | 28°35′12.6″N 81°4′57.5″W / 28.586833°N 81.082639°W |
| Translator(s) |
|
| Links | |
Public license information | |
| Website | superchannel |
WACX operates on a commercial license, even though it, like most religious stations, is supported through donations from viewers. Its schedule consists primarily of national and local religious programming.[2]
History
editWACX first signed on the air on March 6, 1982, as WIYE, operating on analog channel 55. However, it has roots in a local Christian cable channel begun by Claud and Freeda Bowers in 1977.
Channel 55's signal originally did not make it too far out of Lake County. However, the station had grown enough that by 1987 it was able to move to a new transmitter capable of 5 million watts of power, boosting its coverage area to the entire Central Florida area. It became WACX in 1988, and began branding itself as "SuperChannel 55" because at the time it was the only station in the area airing at the maximum power allowed for a UHF station. (The WIYE calls now reside at a low-powered CBS affiliate in Parkersburg, West Virginia.)
From the 1990s through September 2006, WACX was affiliated with TBN, regularly airing select programs from the network; this affiliation ceased after TBN acquired WTGL-TV (channel 52) in Cocoa and changed its call sign to WHLV-TV. Since then, the station has regularly featured programming from The Inspiration Network (INSP) and periodically from God TV.
At one point, WACX controlled the "SuperChannel TBN" service on the Sky Angel religious satellite system, but this was replaced with the national TBN feed in 2006.
Technical information
editSubchannels
editThe station's signal is multiplexed:
| Channel | Res. | Aspect | Short name | Programming |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 55.1 | 480i | 16:9 | WACX-D1 | Main WACX programming |
| 55.2 | WACX-D2 | Aliento Vision | ||
| 55.3 | WACX-D3 | GEB America | ||
| 55.4 | WACX-D4 | SonLife | ||
| 55.5 | WACX-D5 | QVC Over the Air | ||
| 55.6 | WACX-D6 | Believer's Voice of Victory Network | ||
| 55.7 | WACX-D7 | LibreVisión | ||
| 55.8 | WACX-D8 | CBN News | ||
| 55.9 | WACX-D9 | QVC2 | ||
| 55.10 | WACX-D10 | J.U.M.P. Global Network (JUMP Ministries) | ||
| 55.11 | WACX-D11 | Mega TV Orlando |
Analog-to-digital conversion
editWACX shut down its analog signal, over UHF channel 55, in March 2006. The station's digital signal continued to be broadcast on its pre-transition UHF channel 40,[4] using virtual channel 55.
Translator
editWACX presently operates a digital translator station which rebroadcasts its signal into the Gainesville–Ocala area. In addition, programming from WACX's main channel is carried on a digital subchannel of WJGV-CD (channel 48) in Palatka.[5]
| City of license | Callsign | Channel | ERP | HAAT | Facility ID | Transmitter coordinates |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alachua | WACX-LD | 32 | 15 kW | 160 m (525 ft) | 168091 | 29°37′47.″N 82°34′24″W / 29.62972°N 82.57333°W |
Former translators
editPreviously, WACX operated a network of analog translators which rebroadcast its signal into other parts of Florida:
| Area served | City of license | Callsign | Channel | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tallahassee | Madison | W03AO | 3 | License canceled on September 24, 2013[6] |
| Tallahassee | WACX-LP | 9 | Sold to Restoration Place, Inc. in August 2011 (now WWRP-LP).[7] | |
| Tampa Bay | Lakeland | WLWA-LP | 14 | Went dark on June 15, 2006, after losing its transmitter site;[8] license canceled on April 24, 2009.[9] |
| Gainesville | Alachua | W69AY | 69 | Replaced with digital translator W40CQ-D (now WACX-LD);[10] license canceled on March 27, 2009.[11] |
Majesty Building
editIn 2001, Claud Bowers, the general manager of WACX, began construction of the Majesty Building, an 18-story office building in Altamonte Springs. However, no work was done on the building, which has been dubbed "The I-4 Eyesore" by many locals in the area, for over two decades.[12] Construction largely resumed in 2018.
References
edit- ^ "Facility Technical Data for WACX". Licensing and Management System. Federal Communications Commission.
- ^ "WACX-DT 55.1 Leesburg/Orlando Program Schedule". Superchannel.com. Associated Christian Television System. November 28, 2018.
- ^ RabbitEars TV Query for WACX
- ^ "DTV Tentative Channel Designations for the First and the Second Rounds" (PDF). Retrieved March 24, 2012.
- ^ "Gospel Vision TV". Pentecostal Revival Association. Retrieved March 9, 2021.
- ^ "Facility Details « Licensing and Management System Admin « FCC". enterpriseefiling.fcc.gov. Retrieved March 9, 2021.
- ^ FCC Public Notice Report #534: "Media Bureau Call Sign Actions", August 31, 2011. Archived October 30, 2011, at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "Notification of Suspension of Operations / Request for Silent STA". CDBS Public Access. Federal Communications Commission. June 26, 2006. Retrieved May 25, 2009.
- ^ Hashemzadeh, Hossein (April 24, 2009). "Re: WLWA-LP, Lakeland, FL" (PDF). CDBS Public Access. Federal Communications Commission. Retrieved May 25, 2009.
- ^ "Licensing and Management System". enterpriseefiling.fcc.gov. Retrieved March 9, 2021.
- ^ "Facility Details « Licensing and Management System Admin « FCC". enterpriseefiling.fcc.gov. Retrieved March 9, 2021.
- ^ "The 'I-4 Eyesore' has been under construction since 2001. It's showing glimmers of life". Tampa Bay Times. July 26, 2018. Retrieved May 11, 2019.